The Bible Collection: Solomon (Movie Review)

The Bible Collection - Solomon - FORMED

Plot Summary

Solomon was the heir to David’s throne and the chosen king to build Yahweh’s temple. He sought wisdom from God and was blessed for it. However, later in life, Solomon allowed idols to dominate his life, which were his ultimate downfall.

Production Quality (2 points)

In keeping with most Lux Vide productions, Solomon is typically fine, including good video quality and camera work. Audio is also acceptable, along with the soundtrack. Sets, locations, and props demonstrate good attention to historical detail. However, some action scenes are poorly shot, and weird special effects invade the viewing experience at times. Also, editing tends to be poor in certain circumstances as scenes suddenly cut off or fade out for no particular reason. However, this section does enough in the end to get past the average mark.

Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)

For the most part, Solomon does a fairly good job with adhering to the historical source material. On paper, the story is adequately portrayed, but the characters aren’t deep enough. The dialogue is very procedural rather than emotional, like it’s a strain to be realistic. This prevents the character from being relatable and makes them more like theater actors and actresses. Large time jumps certainly don’t help matters, and things generally move too fast. At times, random things suddenly happen, including some unnecessarily edgy content. It all converges into an anti-climactic conclusion that leaves the audience empty-handed. Overall, while this narrative seems to check the right boxes, it just ends up being another typical Bible play.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

One of this section’s biggest detractors is its inconsistent use of culturally authentic cast members. Additionally, the performances are often too theatrical and dramatic, keeping with the Bible play themes. However, despite the stoicism, the actors and actresses aren’t all that bad. There are plenty of positive moments that contribute to this average score even though there are instances where the cast members seem to act in ways that are contrary to their roles. Nonetheless, this area rounds out an overall underwhelming effort.

Conclusion

Films like Solomon continually contribute to the bad image of Scripture-based entertainment. They manage to frustrate audiences by being Shakespearean, poorly presented, and inconsistent with application of Biblical concepts. Hopefully, one day soon, we can put these types of movies and series behind us and replace them with more substantial offerings.

Final Rating: 4.5 out of 10 points

The Bible Collection: Genesis (Movie Review)

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Plot Summary

In the beginning, God created humans in His image, but they sinned against Him. After most of the world went against His purposes, He sent the Flood to judge them. Then, after the Deluge, humanity sought to rebuild, and they passed on the stories of the times before them by sharing the narratives with each other.

Production Quality (2.5 points)

Surprisingly, Genesis boasts a respectable production. This is likely due to good funding even though it does contain a lot of stock footage. Video quality, camera work, and audio quality are all great, however. The soundtrack is very interesting, and the sets, locations, and props are well-used. The only minor concern is the editing, but it’s not enough to keep this section’s score from being quite high. Unfortunately, these good elements seem to go to waste.

Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 point)

It’s hard to understand why Genesis isn’t some type of docu-drama or narrated Bible project as it’s almost entirely based on narration and voiceover. This experience is extremely artistic and even ethereal at times, which necessitates reading a lot into what’s being seen. There are basically no instances of dialogue or conversations, and many of the scenes are quite vague, barely representing what the narrator is talking about. Long sequences sometimes pass without any talking at all, so while it’s fine to be subtle, it’s also possible to be so discrete that there’s no point in viewing it. Such is the case in this “narrative.” Elsewhere, there are some odd inclusions of biblical accounts that hadn’t been yet written. Although it was an interesting idea to frame the first part of the Genesis story in the context of Noah, which is one of the main things keeping this section from being zero, this movie definitely does not cover the whole book. Further, this plot ends in a strangely abrupt way like they just ran out of ideas and cut it off. In the end, this is a unique yet mostly extraneous viewing experience.

Acting Quality (1 point)

Genesis strengthens its case by casting actors and actresses that are mostly culturally authentic. However, they hardly have any chance to exhibit their potential skills due to lack of opportunities to deliver actual lines. The small amount therein is passable albeit somewhat dramatic and theatrical. Overall, this section rounds out a rather mediocre effort.

Conclusion

It’s quite unclear what this “screenplay” was actually going for. If it was part of a larger plan, this is totally lost to the audience. Despite having some interesting possibilities at their fingertips, this film’s creators squandered an opportunity to do something creatively different. Unfortunately, Genesis just falls in line with lots of other un-engaging and ultimately forgettable Bible entertainment.

Final Rating: 4 out of 10 points

Jeremiah [1998] (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Jeremiah grew up in the reign of Josiah, the last golden era for Judah as a nation.  As a young boy, God called him to be a prophet; however, he did not always accept this call.  As he grew, he knew he was destined to be a Levitical priest, but God gave him a message to tell the people that no one wanted to hear.  Jeremiah was persecuted for what he had to share and suffered terribly as Jerusalem’s days were numbered by the Babylonian siege.  Yet through it all, God was with him as he carried out the Word of the Lord.

 

Production Quality (1.5 points)

For a late 1990s production, Jeremiah has plenty of good elements.  Affirm Films’ older Bible movies were certainly not perfect, but they definitely showed good effort.  The biggest plus to this production pertains to the excellent sets, locations, and props, which all demonstrate historical authenticity and great attention to detail.  Video quality and audio quality are also what they should be, including an effective soundtrack.  However, there are some drawbacks to point out, such as weird lighting in some scenes for dramatic effect, quick and rapid time jumps, fast cuts and transitions.  Thus, this production is overall average, but this is very good considering the time period.

Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)

Like too many other Bible movies like it, such as Affirm’s rendition of Esther, Jeremiah tends to portray Biblical characters in a too lofty fashion through the use of odd and cumbersome dialogue styles.  It would be nice if Biblical characters were not so inaccessible and theater-like.  But nevertheless, this is an interesting and noteworthy portrayal of a different Biblical account that often goes unnoticed.  It’s refreshing to see a different story, but at the same time, it is frustrating to watch because it had such potential that was wasted.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

Much like the cumbersome dialogue, too often in this film, the cast members use weird, archaic annunciation, like this is a 1970s or older Bible film.  In a similar vein, a lot of the acting is too dramatic and theatrical at times, and too much of the line delivery is breathy.  While some cast members are culturally authentic, others are not, including several British people.  Yet there are plenty of good moments here and some cast members tend to improve throughout.  In the end, this rounds out a nearly average film.

Conclusion

It would be great to see this idea remade because it is a very interesting story that deserves to be portrayed.  Yet this movie can also serve as an example of how not to portray Biblical characters.  Audiences want to see people they can relate to, not lofty characters in a play.  The Bible needs to be brought to life in authentic and even gritty ways because it’s real life and deserves to be portrayed that way.

 

Final Rating: 4 out of 10 pointsj

 

Esther [1999] (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

When King Xerxes banished his wife, Queen Vashti, for refusing to obey him, he called all the young women of the Persian kingdom to come and audition to be his new queen.  Among them was Esther, a Jewess, whose cousin Mordecai instructed her to hide her ethnic identity from the royal leaders.  Little did either of them know that she had been raised up by God for such a time to save His people from certain destruction.

 

Production Quality (2 points)

Though this film was made before the 2000s, Affirm Films demonstrated even in 1999 that they were committed to professional production quality.  Video quality and camera work are good in this film, even if lighting is sometimes inconsistent.  Audio quality is average, and the soundtrack leaves something to be desired.  The biggest win for this production is the professional and historically authentic sets, locations, and props which demonstrate care for accuracy.  The editing is fine but it could use a little improvement.  Overall, this is a respectable production and shows why Affirm is where they are today.

Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)

This rendition of the story of Esther was likely the first of its kind in the modern era, later to be follow by For Such a Time As This, One Night With the King, and the deplorable Book of Esther.  In this 1999 version, care is also given to an accurate retelling of the story, even if it is a little too literal.  This is the only film we’ve seen that portrays Xerxes very well and likely accurate to the historical figure.  At least this story shies away from the silly ‘love story’ trope that modern film writers try to force into the account.  However, the characters in this version still don’t seem like real people as they are too dramatic and boring at the same time.  There are a lot of dead sequences and not enough substantial dialogue.  Overall, this was a nice try, but not good enough.

Acting Quality (1 point)

This cast, though semi-professional, is overly theatrical and too practiced.  Though costuming is culturally authentic, the casting is not always this way.  Emotions are also forced and feel manufactured, like this is some sort of Bible play.  Yet not all is bad here and this rounds out an acceptable effort.

Conclusion

A lot of time and money was likely spent on sets and costumes in this film, much like its later relation, One Night With the King.  However, what both of these films forget is substance.  Though Esther is better at adhering to the true historical account, it is still not presented in an interesting way that will engage audiences.  Biblical film makers can learn from this to not abandon accuracy but still develop the characters like they’re real people, not lofty ‘heroes’ that have no connection to us today.

 

Final Rating: 4 out of 10 points